A client may be configured in a variety of ways to provide functionality to a user. For example, the client may be configured as a wireless phone to enable the user to communicate using voice and/or text messaging, as a computer that is communicatively coupled to the Internet to access one or more web sites, and so on. To enable the user to interact with the client, the client may include a user interface. The user interface, which is also known as a man/machine interface (MMI), describes the aspects of the client that can be perceived by the user, and the commands and mechanisms used by the user to control its operation and input data.
The user interface may be configured in a variety of ways to provide this interaction. In the past, for instance, the user interface was provided as a collection of knobs and dials for manual manipulation by the user and gauges for viewing by the user. As technology improved, textual and graphical user interfaces evolved to provide a user with improved techniques for entering and viewing data, such as through use of cursor control devices and color display devices. Even though user interfaces have continued to provide improve techniques for interacting with clients, however, functionality available to a user via the user interface may go unnoticed.
The client, for example, may be configured to perform a wide range of actions, such as to perform calculations, web searches, define terms, and so on. The number of actions that may be performed by the client may become so great, however, that the user, when confronted with the variety of options, may choose to ignore some or all of the available actions. For instance, the user may choose to utilize a default option rather than take the time to learn about which of the available actions may be desirable. Thus, actions which have the potential of improving the user's experience with the client may be underutilized.
Therefore, there is a continuing need for techniques that may be employed to configure a user interface for efficient interaction by a user.